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The best Taito games

The 8 best games from Taito, ranked from 615 critic and player ratings.

The best Taito game is Arkanoid, with a critic score of 80/100. Updated October 2026.

Ranked releases span 1978 to 2006.
Average critic score across the 8 ranked games: 76/100.
615 critic and player ratings behind this ranking.

How this ranking is built

Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
A game only enters the ranking with at least 30 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
Release window covered: 1970 to 2026.
8 games are listed on this page, carrying 615 ratings between them.
Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 11 October 2026.

Top 8

Arkanoid 1986 · 112 ratings Arkanoid is an arcade game developed by Taito in 1986. It expanded upon Atari's Breakout games of the 1970s by adding power-ups, different types of bricks, and a variety of level layouts. The title refers to a doomed "mothership" from which the player's ship, the Vaus, escapes. 80 /100

Bubble Bobble (1986) 1986 · 134 ratings In the game, each player controls one of the two Bubble Dragons, Bub and Bob. The player can move along platforms, as well as jump to those above and to the side, similar to most platform games. The player can also blow bubbles. These can trap enemies, who are defeated if the bubble is then burst by the player's spiny back. Bubbles that contain enemies can be popped at the same time resulting in different foods being projected around the level. Each enemy trapped in a bubble equates to a different food. Food is consumed and transferred to points (an increasing scale of 1000 points is awarded for each enemy burst in tandem with another meaning: one enemy burst equals one food item worth 1000 points, two enemies burst equals two food items worth 1000 and 2000 points, three enemies burst equals three food items worth 1000, 2000 and 4000 points, and so on), which results in earning lives. These same bubbles also float for a time before bursting, and can be jumped on, allowing access to otherwise inaccessible areas. Players progress to the next level once all enemies on the current level are defeated. Enemies turn "angry" — becoming pink-colored and moving faster — if they are the last enemy remaining, escape from a bubble after being left too long or a certain amount of time has been spent on the current level. A monster will also become angry if either player collects a skull (the only negative item in the game), and the monster is hit by the resulting comet crossing the screen (however, this is a rare occurrence). After a further time limit expires, an additional invincible enemy appears for each player, actively chasing them using only vertical and horizontal movements. These do not need to be defeated to complete the level, and disappear once a player's life is lost. Contact with enemies and their projectiles (rocks, lasers, fireballs, etc.) results in death. 80 /100

Elevator Action (1983) 1983 · 49 ratings Elevator Action is a 1983 arcade game by Taito. It debuted during the "Golden Age of Arcade Games". Innovative in gameplay, the game was very popular for many years. In the game, the player assumes the role of a spy who infiltrates a building filled with elevators. He must collect secret documents from the building and traverse the 30 floors of the building using an increasingly complex series of elevators. The player is pursued by enemy agents who appear from behind closed doors. These agents must be dealt with via force or evasion. Successful completion of a level involves collecting all the secret documents and traversing the building from top to bottom. In the lower floors of the building, the elevator systems are so complex that some puzzle-solving skills are needed. The game was available as a standard upright cabinet The controls consist of a 4-way joystick and two buttons, one for "shoot" and the other for jumping and kicking. The maximum number of players is two, alternating turns. The graphics are extremely simple, 2D color graphics and in-game music was composed by musician Yoshio Imamura. The game was followed by a sequel, Elevator Action II (also known as Elevator Action Returns). 80 /100

Space Invaders (1978) 1978 · 181 ratings Space Invaders is an arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978. It is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. 77 /100

Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 1987 · 34 ratings Rainbow Islands is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The arcade version was licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing and distribution. The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year. It is the second of four arcade games in the Bubble Bobble series. The game was ported for numerous home computers and game consoles. 77 /100

Bust-A-Move 1994 · 39 ratings Bust-A-Move (also known as Puzzle Bobble) is a real-time puzzle game in which the player controls a device called "pointer" at the bottom of the screen, aiming and releasing randomly colored bubbles upwards. Depending on the aiming, the bubbles may float up directly or bounce off the walls, changing their trajectory. The goal is to aim the bubbles in such a way that they will touch identically colored ones. When such bubbles form a group of three or more, they pop and disappear from the screen. If the ceiling of the area is covered by too many bubbles, it will gradually descend; the game is over when it nearly reaches the player-controlled pointer. Should the player fail to release the bubbles within a specific time limit, they will be released automatically, unaffected by the pointer's aiming. 76 /100

Cooking Mama 2006 · 34 ratings The gameplay structure consists of the player progressing through a series of short minigames. The game features a total of 96 different dishes. Each minigame represents a different activity in the meal preparation, such as mixing, frying, or chopping the provided ingredients. The minigame mechanics themselves range from quickly drawing parallel lines in order to chop items, to a rhythm game where ingredients are added to a skillet or the heat is adjusted at precisely the right time. In many cases, players must look at the top screen of the DS for guidance on what to do next and then perform the task on the bottom screen. If the player makes a serious blunder or time expires without sufficient progress being made, that step in the cooking process is considered a failure. When this happens, a graphic of an angry "Mama" with flames erupting from her eyes is displayed, along with the caption "Don't worry, Mama will fix it!". 68 /100

Operation Wolf 1987 · 32 ratings In the steamy jungles of South America, heavily armed extremists are holding innocent civilians prisoner. Little do these terrorists know that real terror is about to land on their front porch! The sound of rotor blades and staccato bursts of gunfire echo through the valleys. Terrorists be warned! Operation Wolf is going to teach you what terror is all about! Operation Wolf consists of six missions, which are displayed on the Operations Map Screen. A mission is completed when all enemy forces are reduced to zero. The current level is completed when you escape from the airport with the prisoners. Your injury level increases when the enemy hits you. The game automatically ends if the injury indicator on the right side of the screen becomes completely red. You can reduce your injury level by getting power drinks. 68 /100

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What is the best Taito game?

Arkanoid currently tops the ranking with a score of 80/100 across 112 ratings. Ranking updated October 2026.

How is this ranking built?

Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.

The best Taito games

How this ranking is built

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